


Blocked (I Can Feel You)

by DobbyRocksSocks



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU Post book 5, Charlie is frustrated, Dumbledore is a good dude for a change, Happy Ending, Harry is worried, M/M, Snape isn't a terrible human, all the usual suspects are here, mentioned minor character death, soulmate!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26566333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DobbyRocksSocks/pseuds/DobbyRocksSocks
Summary: Harry doesn't want to cause anyone pain, least of all his soulmate
Relationships: Harry Potter/Charlie Weasley
Comments: 6
Kudos: 326





	Blocked (I Can Feel You)

Never did Harry think he'd be willing to beg the greasy git of a Potion Master, but he was about ready to get on his knees for Severus Snape if it meant he would brew him the potion he needed.

"You know it's restricted mostly for the use of Aurors, Albus," Snape said, a sneer turning his lips up as he glanced at Harry.

Harry was pretty sure he was exuding desperation at this point, and he didn't even care.

"Even you must admit that it's necessary in the case of our Mr Potter, Severus," Dumbledore said. "As much as I would like to deny the need of it, it's unlikely Harry will escape the war unscathed, and given we don't know who his soulmate is, it's a necessary evil."

"It's unnatural, is what it is," Snape muttered, but then he sighed. "Fine, I'll brew the potion for Potter. If I start it immediately, it'll be ready before he turns sixteen."

Snape swept from the office, his cloak billowing behind him, as was his way, the melodramatic prat.

Harry looked at the Headmaster. "What does he mean, it's unnatural?"

"Ah, to suppress a soulbond isn't the most comfortable thing for anyone involved, Harry. While it's necessary in your case, certainly, and in the case of Aurors and HIT wizards, it will still likely feel very odd to you."

Harry nodded. It wasn't like he wanted to suppress his soulmate but there was the unfortunate fact that people were continuously trying to mortally wound or kill him. Given his soulmate would feel any pain he did, he really didn't want to inflict that on some innocent.

"Hopefully it won't be too long before you can forego the potion and find your other half, Harry."

Harry smiled at the thought, even as he doubted it. While the Headmaster seemed to have the faith that Harry could, in the end, defeat Voldemort, Harry himself wasn't quite so convinced by it.

"Severus will have the potion delivered to you with the dosage instructions before your birthday, Harry. For now, I believe you should go and pack yourself for the summer, the train arrives tomorrow, after all."

Harry stood and smiled at the Headmaster. "Thank you, Sir. I'll see you soon."

"You will, my boy. You will."

…

Spending the summer at Grimmauld place was undoubtedly better than spending it with the Dursley's but with Sirius gone, it still wasn't the best place to be.

Harry couldn't help but picture Sirius prowling the halls, frustrated by the way he'd exchanged one prison for another. He wished that he could go back and change things, but he knew that wishing for things like that would only drive him mad.

The upside was that he wasn't alone at Grimmauld. The whole Weasley family had already been there by the time they debarked the Hogwarts Express in London, and they were planning to stay for the whole summer.

Harry had allowed the Order to continue using the house as Order Headquarters, which was handy given Dumbledore had promised to allow Harry to start sitting in on meetings.

Despite his youth, Harry was part of the war—a rather large part, unfortunately—and the Headmaster had agreed that he had a right to know what was going on. A few of the members—Molly being the loudest—hadn't been happy about it, but none of them would actively go against Dumbledore.

Two days before his sixteenth birthday, Snape arrived at the house and pulled Harry unceremoniously from the kitchen into the empty library.

"You must take this weekly, Potter," he said, handing the vial over. "One spoonful, at the same time every week, of the effect will wear off. You cannot mix it with alcohol within twenty four hours each way of taking it, and you cannot eat eggs for the same amount of time."

Harry snorted. "Eggs?"

"I won't bother explaining the intricacies of the ingredients," Snape said, rolling his eyes. "Repeat the instructions to me."

Harry did so, and Snape nodded. "Remember, Potter, the potion only works one way. You will still feel any pain your soulmate feels, but they won't be able to feel any of yours, so if you happen across them, then do not be concerned."

Nodding, Harry said, "Thank you, Sir. I know you find the potion use distasteful, so thank you for doing it anyway."

Snape nodded. "I find a lot of things about this war distasteful, Potter. I'll take my leave before I get pulled into the horde of red-heads overtaking your kitchen."

Laughing softly, Harry pocketed the potion and followed Snape from the library, though while Snape left through the front door, Harry returned to the kitchen.

"What was that about?" Bill asked, looking curiously at Harry.

"He fetched me a potion that Dumbledore requested from him, that's all," Harry replied quietly. He looked at Bill's plate and wrinkled his nose. "What are you eating?"

"Liver," Bill replied. "Since Greyback, I uh—"

"Enough said. But also, ew."

"Told you it looked disgusting," Charlie said, patting Bill's shoulder. "Steak is much better."

"Get's boring after a while," Bill said with a shrug. He looked back at Harry. "What was the potion?"

"Hmm?"

"That Snape fetched you?"

"Oh." Harry looked down at the table. "It's too block the soulmate bond on my end. You know, since people keep attacking me and all, I didn't think it was fair to whichever unlucky sod I end up bonded too."

Bill's eyes widened slightly. "Ah. Sorry, Harry."

Harry shook his head. "It's fine. One day, hopefully, I'll be able to stop taking it but until then, it's the only solution we can think of. It's not even just about me being attacked either. The training I do with you lot leaves me with plenty of aches and pains. It really wouldn't be fair, you know?"

"I'm still sorry. It's a sucky potion to have to use."

"Yeah. It is."

…

"Oh my god," Harry said, flopping down on the mat in the middle of the training room. "I thought you were going to give me a break today, Kingsley!"

Kingsley snorted. "I did."

"Lies. You're a lying liar."

"Nah, you're just not good at shields."

Harry sent a sly stinging hex at Kingsley, laughing when the larger man yelped as it made contact.

"Apparently, neither are you."

"On your feet, you brat," Kingsley said, shaking his head even as he grinned. "If you've still got the strength to hex me, I didn't work you hard enough."

"Brutal. I think I'd rather take my chances with the Death Eaters," Harry grumbled as he stood up and shook himself off. "They're not nearly as inventive as you are."

Kingsley smirked as he stepped into a duelling position. "Thank you."

…

Dumbledore collected him from the house midway through the summer. Harry felt a stirring of nerves as the Headmaster explained that he thought he'd located one of Tom's Horcruxes.

While he'd promised to let Harry help collect them, Harry had wondered if he'd actually follow through on that promise, given his penchant for trying to protect Harry from… everything.

Together, they travelled to Hangleton, and collected and destroyed the Gaunt Ring.

Harry couldn't help but be thankful he was there when Dumbledore attempted to put the ring on his finger. He never thought that he'd consider his mentor an idiot, and yet…

They destroyed the ring, and Dumbledore took it with him. The protections on the house were pretty destructive though, and Harry was exhausted by the time they returned to Grimmauld—only to then have to sit through a meeting.

Harry remained quiet through the meeting, aware that he was drawing concerned looks from the older members of the Order, and even Dumbledore. The only time he really reacted was when a flash of heat came from nowhere across the back of his hand.

It startled him, until he realised that his hand was fine. At the same time, Charlie muttered an ouch, and then a healing spell.

"Are you okay, Charlie?" Molly asked, frowning at where her second eldest was making tea.

"Fine. Just splashed the back of my hand with hot water," Charlie replied with a sheepish smile. "Don't mind me."

Harry blinked, looking down at his hand and then back at Charlie.

Well. _Shit_.

…

"He's planning an attack on Godric's Hollow," Snape said, running a hand over his face. "I believe he's expecting—hoping even—to draw Potter there in a fit of anger. He believes that if he shows the boy a vision of it happening, then Potter will come alone."

Harry sighed. He hated to admit that he _would_ have tried to go, had he not been included the way he was now, if he'd been left to his own devices.

"Do you know when, Severus?"

"Not precisely. Within the next week, certainly."

Dumbledore nodded and then looked at Harry. "You'll need to let us know as soon as you get a vision, Harry. We'll be able to mobilise there if we plan now, and hopefully take some of the Death Eaters into custody and minimise the damage."

While Harry had been getting mildly better at Occlumency, he still couldn't block out anything from Voldemort; though Dumbledore was quite certain that the Dark Lord wouldn't ever try to possess Harry again.

"What if we played into his 'trap'?" Harry offered quietly. "Obviously I won't go alone, but it wouldn't be too hard to fool him into thinking I did, would it?"

"That's too dangerous," Molly said, shaking her head immediately. "You're _sixteen_ , Harry. You may be allowed to sit in on these meetings—which I don't agree with—but to send you into battle would be… unconscionable."

Harry offered her a small smile before he turned to look at Dumbledore.

"I believe I agree with Harry to a point, I'm afraid, Molly. Perhaps, were Harry a usual sixteen year old, I would agree with you, but he's training at an Auror level and he _is_ a part of the Order, despite his age. Though sending you alone—even if you are not—isn't a risk I'm willing to take."

Harry looked at him for a long moment and then nodded his acceptance. "Okay."

"You're not going to argue?" George asked him, tilting his head curiously.

"No." Harry shook his head. "If the Headmaster doesn't think it's wise then I'll accept that."

Dumbledore smiled at him across the table. Their relationship had improved a million fold since Dumbledore had started being more open with him.

"I believe Harry should join Bill's squadron for this mission," Dumbledore said. "They are our strongest fighters, after all, and will be able to keep an eye on Harry. While we don't have too many details about the attack, I believe it will be best to overplan for it, rather than underplan as it were. Bill?"

Bill nodded, and took over the conversation. Harry paid close attention to the details, interrupting only once with a different idea which was accepted as it would be from any of the others.

Harry couldn't deny that it was nice to be taken seriously.

…

"I can't believe they're letting you go with them," Ron said. He looked both impressed and a little jealous, and Harry really felt for his best friend. He knew Ron wanted to be allowed to go with them, but his mother had put her foot down firmly on Ron and Ginny being kept as far away from the Order as possible.

Harry had even had to promise to keep most of what he knew from them, though he was allowed to tell Ron the broad picture. George and Fred filled in the details for him, and Ron understood that Harry was being kept on a somewhat tighter leash than the others.

"I think that this is going to be as much a test for me as any of my training sessions," Harry admitted softly. "I think they want to see how I handle myself in an actual battle as opposed to being in the training room."

"What if you get a clean shot on Voldemort?" Ron asked, and Harry was proud of his friend for not stuttering over the Dark Lord's name.

Harry shook his head. "I'm not ready to fight him yet. Not properly. I think… I think I'll know when it's time for that."

Ron twisted his lips looking thoughtful, but he nodded his acceptance.

"Have you heard from Hermione today?" Harry asked, changing the subject for a happier one. Hermione had decided to spend at least some of the holidays with her parents, though she would be joining them at Grimmauld for the last two weeks before they returned to Hogwarts.

"Not yet, though I'm sure she'll write. She's horrified that I haven't done my homework yet," Ron replied, rolling his eyes.

Harry chuckled. His best friends were soulmates—unsurprisingly—and sometimes, he wondered what fate had been thinking when it had paired them together. They really were chalk and cheese when it came to a lot of things.

Of course, whenever he saw them together, the musings disappeared, because they really were perfect for one another; he'd never seen a balance like theirs, not even in the older couples he'd met.

"Oh, she said to ask if you'd felt anything yet?"

"Once," Harry admitted. "I, uh. It was… different."

"So your soulmate is older?" Ron mused. "That seems right. I always thought it would be someone older."

"Oh? How so?"

"You've got so much on your shoulders, Harry. Nobody our age could ever really understand that, could they?"

Harry nodded slowly; he hadn't really thought about it like that. He'd known he was gay for a few months, of course. The realisation that describing a kiss as 'wet' wasn't the most promising thing for liking girls had made him think about it, and he'd quickly realised that he preferred boys.

Not that he'd had a chance to put it into practice. He'd told Ron nervously, but his best friend had shrugged it off. Apparently fluidity in sexuality was usual for wizards, and certainly not something that was considered a bad thing like it was by certain people in the Muggle world.

"That's a good point," he said, realising he hadn't replied. "I guess we're not all so lucky to have our soulmate already be our best friend."

Ron grinned. "True. I am lucky, huh?"

"You both are."

…

"I'm fine," Charlie said, waving his fussing mother off.

Harry rolled his eyes. "No you're not, you took a hit to the ribs."

He didn't mean to say it and as Charlie's brow furrowed, Harry cursed himself internally and turned away, looking for someone, _anyone,_ to engage in conversation.

"How did you know that?" Charlie asked, drawing the attention of some of the others who were gathered. They'd just returned from Godric's Hollow.

Voldemort has been unprepared for the full onslaught of the Order of the Phoenix, having truly expected Harry to run off half-cocked, there weren't really that many Death Eater's present.

The battle had been less than an hour before Voldemort and his force retreated. Harry had a few cuts and bruises, but nothing terrible, and Bill had been practically beaming at him when they returned.

Turning to Charlie, Harry said, "I saw you take the hit."

He hadn't. He hadn't even been in the same area, but he was hoping that in the confusion, Charlie would just let it go.

He didn't.

His frown deepened, and then from nowhere, he slapped his hand down over his injury.

Harry flinched at the sharp pain, leaning against the wall as he hissed out, glaring at Charlie. "What the hell are you—"

"You're my soulmate!"

"Holy shit," Bill muttered.

"Did you know? What am I saying of course you did," Charlie said, shaking his head. "You didn't tell me. Why?"

"I'm taking the potion," Harry replied softly. "I didn't want to tell you without… proof I guess. And, well."

He shook his head and turned away.

"He doesn't think he's going to survive the war," Bill put in softly. Molly gasped, putting her hand over her mouth as tears filled her eyes, and when Harry caught Dumbledore's eye across the room, he noticed the sadness in the usually twinkly blue.

"There's just… a chance that I won't," Harry hedged carefully. "And until it's done… I wouldn't want someone to get close to me only to lose me, you know?"

"Shouldn't that be my choice?" Charlie asked.

Harry pressed his lips together and then shrugged. "Maybe. Now it is, I guess. You should get your ribs fixed, it hurts like a bitch."

Turning away, Harry left the room and headed upstairs. He wanted nothing more than a shower and his bed.

…

"I want Harry permanently on my squad," Bill said, at the next Order meeting. "Not only did he fight well, but he wasn't distracted when his soulmate got hurt. That kind of focus is what we need."

"He's a child!"

"No, Mum," Bill said, shaking his head. "He's really not. He hasn't been for a while, I'd wager. What he _is,_ is a good fighter, and an asset to the Order. It's time you accepted that."

Dumbledore nodded. "I agree. Harry did very well, though once he returns to school, he'll only be included in battles if absolutely necessary."

Harry nodded. It was the agreement he'd accepted when Dumbledore had spoken to him about it, and Harry was willing to stick to it. While his training would continue at school, and he'd attend any meeting's Dumbledore thought he was needed for, Harry's school year would be as uninterrupted as possible

"This is ridiculous," Molly argued, throwing her hands up in the air. "Harry is your brother's soulmate, and you just want to throw him to the wolves!"

"With all due respect, Mrs Weasley, who my soulmate is has nothing to do with my ability to fight. That's part of the reason I'm taking the potion to block off my end of the bond, so that nobody gets hurt unnecessarily," Harry said quietly. "My place in this war is fixed, and unavoidable as much as I sometimes wish it was. You can't wrap me up in cotton wool and hope that it'll all just wait until I'm 'old enough' to fight."

"You're a child, Harry. You're going back to school in two weeks—"

"Enough, Molly," Arthur said sternly. "Harry has had his say, and he has the Headmaster's agreement. There are plans in place to keep him as safe as possible, and as much as none of us like it, he _is_ important to the war. It's time to accept that."

Her bottom lip wobbled, but she held her tongue and nodded once. Harry didn't think he'd heard the last of it, but for now, he was glad that she was letting it be. Repeating the same argument over and over was pointless and tiring.

He was learning that quite quickly with Charlie.

Since the man had found out that Harry was his soulmate a few days before, he'd been hounding Harry to stop taking the potion. It wasn't like Harry didn't understand; he'd most likely feel the same as Charlie did if it was the opposite way around, but even understanding it didn't mean he was going to change his mind.

Charlie's argument that he could handle Harry's pain didn't sway him either.

The meeting wrapped up quite quickly after that. There wasn't much new to discuss, and Harry was grateful for that. Hermione was due in just a few hours, and he was looking forward to seeing her.

"Hey."

Harry turned to see Charlie standing behind him. His heart sunk; he really didn't want to have another repeated argument.

Charlie smiled at him. "I'm not going to mention the potion today. I just… want to spend some time with you. I thought we could go and sit in the back, it's a nice day out."

Smiling, Harry nodded. "That sounds great."

…

Harry summoned Dumbledore to the house two days before he was due back at school. To say that the Headmaster was shocked to see Slytherin's locket in Harry's hand was an understatement, but they were both practically giddy with happiness to have another Horcrux gone.

They sat in the library—warded for privacy—afterwards, enjoying a spot of tea as they went over what Dumbledore suspected were the remaining objects and where they could possibly be.

"Sir, would he have a Gringotts vault?" Harry asked, his brow furrowed as he thought. "Because we're talking about things that signified his magic, and one of the first things I remember about magic is my very first trip to the bank."

Dumbledore twisted his lips thoughtfully, fingering at the hem of his purple robes. "That… is an interesting thought, my boy. As a pureblood, a goblin run bank has always been the norm to me, but to someone entering the world at eleven… perhaps that's something. I'll arrange a meeting with the Goblins post-haste."

Harry grinned and then sighed. "I still believe there has to be one at Hogwarts, Sir."

"I'm inclined to agree with you," Dumbledore said, nodding his head. "Although I cannot begin to think of _where_ in Hogwarts I haven't already searched; not that I know all of Hogwarts secrets, of course."

Harry tilted his head, thoughtfully. There was something in the back of his mind but he couldn't seem to grasp the thought.

"Are you looking forward to the term restarting, Harry?" Dumbledore asked then, and Harry smiled at him.

"I am. It'll be nice to be back at Hogwarts, though I'm a little concerned about keeping up with my school work alongside training. I'm sure Hermione already has a schedule all plotted out for me though, that she'll expect me to give my full devotion, I'm sure."

Dumbledore chuckled. "You have good friends, Harry."

"I know, Sir. I really do."

…

"Be careful," Charlie said, tugging Harry into a hug. "Don't do anything stupid, you hear me?"

"I hear you," Harry replied softly, squeezing Charlie gently before he stepped back. "Back at you, by the way."

"You'll know if I do," Charlie muttered. Harry ignored the trace of bitterness in the words as best he could, but it must have shown on his face because Charlie muttered an apology.

"Here."

Harry accepted the small package, eyes widening when he opened it to find himself looking at his reflection in a mirror.

"Two-way?" He asked, his thoughts immediately on Sirius, who'd given him a mirror he'd never used.

Charlie nodded. "You should mirror me when you get a free moment, okay?"

"I will," Harry promised. "I'll see you at Christmas, if I don't come back for meetings before?"

Smiling, Charlie bent down a little to press a kiss to Harry's temple. "You will."

…

The goblins of Gringotts were truly offended at the idea of a Horcrux being stored in one of their vaults, and after a little back and forth with Dumbledore, they'd searched the Malfoy and Lestrange vaults themselves.

The Hufflepuff Cup that had been handed over to Dumbledore at the end of their search was another Horcrux ticked off their list, and Harry couldn't help but be happy that they were getting closer to their end goal.

Only two remained, and the Headmaster was convinced that one of the Horcruxes was Nagini, Voldemort's snake, the last remaining one was in Hogwarts, Harry was convinced of it.

Where, he didn't know, but he was determined that before Christmas, he would find it. He wanted this over.

…

"Draco Malfoy is up to something," Harry commented, at the first meeting he'd been summoned to after going back to school.

Snape snorted, rolling his eyes, even as the Headmaster chuckled at Harry.

"I told you Potter would have noticed," Snape said, shaking his head. "What was it that clued you in, Potter?"

"He's hardly subtle, Sir," Harry said. "And he keeps disappearing from the map."

"Well, right you are, Harry. Draco Malfoy has been tasked with my death," Dumbledore said. "Voldemort, of course, isn't expecting the boy to succeed, but I believe he's hoping to keep me distracted."

Harry sighed, shaking his head. "He's not a killer."

Snape's eyes widened. "What makes you say that?"

"He's a brat, Sir," Harry replied quietly. "He's arrogant, offensive and downright rude—all of the things I believe you accused me of actually—but he doesn't have it in him to be a murderer. He's a pain in the ass, but he's not… he's not evil."

"I don't believe him to be a murderer either," Dumbledore said softly. "But at the moment, he is scared and desperate. He has been threatened that should he fail, the lives of his parents are at stake."

Harry sighed.

"Going back to what you said, Harry, he's disappearing from your map?"

Harry nodded. "For hours at a time, he…"

Harry trailed off, thinking hard. It was almost impossible for someone to disappear from the map unless they were going beyond the map's boundaries, or if they were inside the Room of Requirement.

It hit him upside the head and he barely restrained himself from facepalming.

"Do finish your sentence, Potter," Snape snapped, shaking his head.

"Oh. Sorry. For hours at a time he disappears. I haven't seen where yet, but I'll try and keep a closer eye on the map to get a better idea if he's sneaking off the school grounds or whatever."

Harry met Dumbledore's eyes. After the meeting, he'd hopefully get a chance to speak to the Headmaster alone. Harry was quite sure he'd just found the location of the last object.

…

The room of hidden things was shockingly full of the most bizarre things. It took the two of them two hours to find the Diadem of Ravenclaw.

"I'm very proud of you, my boy," Dumbledore said afterwards, when they'd returned to his office. "I don't tell you that enough."

Harry felt his cheeks heat slightly, and he smiled. "Thanks, sir."

"And so, we're left with the snake, and the remaining piece of soul in Voldemort's body. The time is creeping ever closer to take him out, Harry."

"I know," Harry said softly. "I'm… I don't know if I'll ever be completely ready for it, but I'm ready for it to be over, one way or the other."

"I have complete faith in you, Harry. You just need to have that faith in yourself, and remember this; you're not alone. You'll never be alone."

Harry nodded. "I know, Sir.

…

The battle, when it happened, was infinitely worse than Harry had expected, while also being something of an anti-climax.

By the time he reached Voldemort, he'd been fighting for hours and he was exhausted. Dumbledore took care of the snake, to Voldemort's horrified anger, and the Headmaster had eventually had to retreat when he was struck with a spell that managed to get around his shield.

Harry could only hope that he was okay, but he knew he couldn't focus on that right now.

Charlie was hurt too, though not irreparably. They all were, and Harry was already dreading finding out the losses of the night; he knew that they hadn't gone unscathed, despite the number of masked bodies he'd seen splayed on the ground, unmoving.

Gathering his magic, Harry faced off with the Dark Lord and they _fought._ In skill, despite his training, Harry was woefully unprepared. Fortunately, he even the score in brute power, and his shield held even when his spells didn't hit.

A lucky shot ended the fight, their spells meeting in the middle. Harry pushed, and he pushed and he pushed his magic until he had none left to push, and Voldemort's killing curse rebounded on him, ending him for good.

Harry only had time to confirm that he was dead before he slumped, exhausted beyond anything he'd ever been before, to the ground, blackness pulling him into unconsciousness.

…

"He's waking up!"

Harry opened his eyes slowly, feeling well rested and comfortable. It took him a moment to be able to focus, helped along when someone carefully put his glasses on for him.

Only then did he realise he was in the hospital wing.

"You did it, mate!" Ron said, when Harry turned his head to see his best friends sitting beside him. "You did it!"

Harry smiled slightly. "He's gone?"

"For good," Hermione confirmed. "Dumbledore had him cremated and the ashes were sent through the veil for good measure."

Harry nodded and then pushed himself into a sitting position. "Charlie?"

"Gone to get some sleep, mate," Ron said softly. "He's been here for days, we convinced him to go and get some proper rest."

Harry nodded. "How long?"

"You've been out for nine days," Hermione told him, biting her lip. "You exhausted your core, almost to breaking point. For the first few days, we were all worried that you were going to be a squib, but then your magic started to build again."

"It would have been worth it," Harry said softly. "Who… who died?"

Their faces fell.

"Tonks," Hermione said softly. "Mad-eye. Penelope Clearwater. Lee Jordan. Remus lost his leg, but he's going to be okay. They, uh, found Peter Pettigrew dead on the battlefield."

Harry nodded. He didn't even feel victorious at the thought of Pettigrew being dead, though he couldn't find it in himself to be sorry.

"Everyone else is okay?"

"New scars, a few wounds that are going to be with them forever, but…" Ron trailed off and nodded. "They're alive, which is the important thing right now."

The doors to the infirmary opened and Dumbleodore came in, followed by Professors McGonagall and Snape.

"Harry, my boy," Dumbledore said, smiling softly. "It is very good to see you awake."

"Hi, Sir," Harry greeted with a small smile. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Harry," Dumbledore promised him. "Severus and Poppy healed me up, there's no lasting damage."

"Good." He looked over Dumbledore's shoulder. "And you Professors? You're both okay?"

McGonagall nodded, smiling, and Snape, wide-eyed at Harry's concern, also nodded.

"You did well, Potter," Snape said, his tone quiet. "Quite an impressive feat."

"I'm so glad you're back with us, Harry," McGonagall said, inching around Dumbledore to get closer, wrapping her arms around him carefully. "We were worried about you, young man."

"I'm sorry for worrying you," he replied. "And I'm glad you're okay."

The doors burst open again, and Harry looked up to see Charlie staring at him. His red hair was everywhere, and his eyes were wide with both happiness and worry. His clothes were rumpled, like he hadn't even bothered to change when he jumped out of bed.

"I can feel you," Charlie said softly and suddenly Harry understood. He hadn't noticed it before but now that he was focusing on it, he could feel the bond between himself and Charlie.

The potion must have blocked that too, since before, Harry could only feel when Charlie was hurt. Now it was like a presence that he was aware of, instinctively knowing that Charlie was okay.

Happy even.

"I think we'll give the two of you a moment alone," Dumbledore said, grinning, his eyes twinkling wildly. "As soon as Madam Pomfrey allows you to leave her tender care, we'll have tea, Harry."

"Yes, Sir," Harry agreed, never taking his eyes from Charlie.

The others filed out of the room, even as Charlie approached the bed, sitting on the edge of it beside Harry, picking up his hand.

"I can feel you too," Harry said. "Properly I mean. I can feel the bond even though you're not hurt."

"You couldn't before?"

Harry shook his head. "I could only feel the pain when you hurt yourself, nothing else."

"It's perfect," Charlie whispered. "Can I… I've been waiting for this to… can I kiss you, Harry."

"Please."

…

Madam Pomfrey kept Harry for another two days, and he spent much of that sleeping. By the time she released him, he was feeling happy and energetic, so much lighter than he ever had before.

Charlie was waiting for him outside the hospital wing.

"What are you still doing here?" he asked, hugging his soulmate. Charlie kept his arm around Harry's shoulders as the two of them started walking.

"I wanted to see you again before I had to leave," Charlie said. "So I'll walk you up to the Headmaster's office and floo from there."

"Are you heading back to Romania?"

Charlie nodded. "For now. I'll be back in a few weeks for Christmas though, and then again at Easter. And we have the mirrors, right?"

Harry nodded. "We do. I'll miss you though."

"I'll miss you too. I was thinking you could come spend the summer in Romania with me? If you don't want too, I'll come back here of course but—"

"Romania sounds great," Harry interrupted gently. "I'd like to see the Horntail again. Do you think she'll remember me?"

"Henrietta?"

Harry paused. "The Hungarian Horntail that tried to _roast me alive_ is called _Henrietta_?"

"Yes."

Snorting, Harry shook his head. "Of course she is."

"So you'll come?"

"Yeah, Charlie. I'll come to Romania and meet Henrietta and hope she doesn't try to fry me again."

Charlie laughed. "I'll protect you."

"I have no doubt," Harry said, leaning into him.

"I, uh. Wanted to ask you something, too," Charlie hedged, as they reached the guardians of the Headmaster's office.

"Hmm? What's up?"

"You're not going to start taking the potion again, right?"

Harry blinked. He hadn't actually thought about that. He still had some, Snape had brewed him another batch not long before the battle. He knew it wouldn't take much to convince himself that there would still be people out to get him, people who wanted to hurt him for what he'd achieved, but…

Now that he'd felt the bond properly, he knew he couldn't do that to Charlie. He couldn't do it to himself.

He shook his head. "I won't, I promise."

"Kay. I don't wanna kiss you in front of the Headmaster," Charlie admitted, leaning down to press his lips to Harry's. "So I'll see you at Christmas, okay?"

Harry nodded. "I'll mirror call you later."

"Good." Charlie kissed him a second time, and then dipped back for a third before he grinned. "Come on then. We both know the Headmaster is dying to fill you with candy and gossip."

Harry snorted, but he couldn't even argue.

"Let's go."


End file.
